We are happy to report that only a few weeks after our press conference with Assemblyman Dinowitz, and three months after beginning to gather petition signatures to call on the DOT to address serious issues on Fort Independence Street, the agency has announced it will install a stoplight at the street’s intersection with Heath Avenue by the end of July.

Dinowitz has also informed us that DOT is going to do a study of the entire Fort Independence Street corridor that he, we and Community Board 8 requested.

So, this is good news. We appreciate Dinowitz’s focus on this critical local safety issue. Thanks also to the other elected officials who attended the press conference: Councilman Andrew Cohen, State Senator Gustavo Rivera, State Senator Jeff Klein and Congressman Adriano Espaillat.

Community Board 8’s board president Dan Padernacht attended the press conference and pushed the issue forward at a recent meeting of the Traffic and Transportation Committee.

The 50th Precinct’s commander, Deputy Inspector Terence O’Toole, also attended the press conference and his participation makes even clearer how dangerous these intersections are. Margaret Della, the executive director of the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center, came too and her staff was incredibly helpful in distributing our petition for the DOT to staff to collect signatures from parents and other members of their critical organization.

We will pay close attention to the DOT’s review of the rest of Fort Independence Street, and we’ll update FIPNA as soon as we learn more.

Of course, we welcome suggestions or questions about this issue.

Thanks!

Jordan Moss, Nova Calise and Anne DiLucca

]]>http://www.fipna.org/2017/03/26/traffic-safety-victory/feed/0http://www.fipna.org/2017/03/26/traffic-safety-victory/Riverdale Press covers Step Street messhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/fipna/feed/~3/HwWn3etqQR4/
http://www.fipna.org/2017/02/18/riverdale-press-covers-step-street-mess/#respondSat, 18 Feb 2017 18:27:46 +0000http://www.fipna.org/?p=2259FIPNA has devoted a lot of energy to the condition of our two nearest step streeets — the one on W. 238th Street between Cannon Place and Orloff Avenue, and the one on Summit Place between Kingsbridge Terrace and Bailey Avenue. This Riverdale Press article does a good job of laying out the issues.

]]>http://www.fipna.org/2017/02/18/riverdale-press-covers-step-street-mess/feed/0http://www.fipna.org/2017/02/18/riverdale-press-covers-step-street-mess/Sign Petition for Safety at Fort Independence St. Intersectionshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/fipna/feed/~3/04D1hhIZyU0/
http://www.fipna.org/2016/11/28/sign-petition-for-safety-at-fort-independence-st-intersections/#commentsMon, 28 Nov 2016 14:36:19 +0000http://www.fipna.org/?p=2178Crossing Ft. Independence Street in Kingsbridge Heights is dangerous for everyone — kids, adults, and drivers. There are no crosswalks in 2 essential areas. Time for the city act. If you haven’t yet, please sign this petition and share link with neighbors. We want the city’s Department of Transportation to act ASAP. Thanks!

]]>http://www.fipna.org/2016/11/28/sign-petition-for-safety-at-fort-independence-st-intersections/feed/1http://www.fipna.org/2016/11/28/sign-petition-for-safety-at-fort-independence-st-intersections/New buyer on Giles Place?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/fipna/feed/~3/UXc5QZgi9GI/
http://www.fipna.org/2016/03/07/new-buyer-on-giles-place/#respondMon, 07 Mar 2016 18:11:12 +0000http://www.fipna.org/?p=2160Not too long ago, the Riverdale Press published this article, about a realtor’s inability to find a buyer for 3329-33 Giles Place, likely due to continuing roadblocks to the proposed construction of a multi-story building there. But has John Gatan found a buyer?

]]>http://www.fipna.org/2016/03/07/new-buyer-on-giles-place/feed/0http://www.fipna.org/2016/03/07/new-buyer-on-giles-place/Summit Place Stepstreet in need of . . . a lot.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/fipna/feed/~3/39gOwTWKSpY/
http://www.fipna.org/2015/12/28/summit-place-stepstreet-in-need-of-a-lot/#respondTue, 29 Dec 2015 00:37:17 +0000http://www.fipna.org/?p=2152If you walk to 231st and Broadway, you probably use the Summit Place stepstreet. So you’ve probably noticed:

There’s usually a lot of garbage on the steps and especially in the areas to the left and right of the steps.

Several of the light poles have been knocked down over time, so there are only a few lights on the steps at night.

There’s one seriously broken step at the moment, and a few that are cracked.

The weeds need to be cut back.

It isn’t easy to call 311 about a step street, because for some complaints you need a street address. But it’s important that we submit complaints about this step street, or it will not get cleaned or repaired. Try calling it “Summit Place between Bailey Avenue and Heath Avenue” or refer to it as the step street next to one of the addresses on Bailey or Heath Avenue. I’ve called Councilman Cabrera’s office, and Community Board 8, and shared my 311 complaints with them, so they can push to have them addressed.

If you call, add a comment here letting us know that you made a complaint!

]]>http://www.fipna.org/2015/12/28/summit-place-stepstreet-in-need-of-a-lot/feed/0http://www.fipna.org/2015/12/28/summit-place-stepstreet-in-need-of-a-lot/FIPNA Statement on the Mayor’s Zoning Proposalshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/fipna/feed/~3/TFumbJPP00Q/
http://www.fipna.org/2015/11/08/fipna-statement-on-the-mayors-zoning-proposals/#respondSun, 08 Nov 2015 23:13:30 +0000http://www.fipna.org/?p=2149The Fort Independence Park Neighborhood Association supports the goal of building more affordable housing in New York over the next few years. We have, however, many serious concerns about the specific proposals being made by the de Blasio Administration. At a recent membership meeting, we approved this statement.
The Fort Independence Park Neighborhood Association is dedicated to protecting and improving the quality of life for residents of our neighborhood. Founded in the 1980s we encompass the area surrounding the Fort Independence Park adjacent to the Jerome Park Reservoir in Van Cortlandt Village, and we include homeowners, cooperators, and tenants.
Ours is a mixed-scale neighborhood, with many single and two family homes scattered among 6-story apartment buildings, some rentals, some cooperatives, and a few scattered towers taller than that. Many of our homes have gardens, and our streets have many trees. Much of our community is already zoned for higher development than it currently has. We are, in recent years, facing over-development. The incentives are enormous for developers to buy one and two family homes, demolish them and sandwich tall skinny buildings into a lot that previously had a single family home. We as a community, and in close cooperation with Community Board 8, fought to limit this development pressure by downzoning parts of our neighborhood to match the way it has historically developed but we were only granted lower zoning for a portion of the neighborhood.
The Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) proposal will only heighten those incentives, by allowing additional height, additional lot coverage and other zoning bonuses to developers. Development will not happen in a planned way, but helter-skelter, as properties come on the market. People who bought homes on low-scale streets with lots of trees will soon find themselves the last human-scaled home on a street of tall buildings. Although the City’s website says the ZQA will not encourage tear-downs, we see no reason to believe this is true.
The ZQA proposes to reduce or eliminate parking requirements for senior housing, nursing homes and affordable housing within transit zones; we think the proposal understates the need for parking for nursing homes (if not for residents, for staff, visitors, contractors, medical personnel, etc.) and errs in making such a broad exception for affordable housing (since most families who qualify for housing that is affordable to 60 or 80% of the city’s median will indeed have a car). This proposal assumes that increased density is necessarily a good thing, which we do not, and assumes that it will lead to greater quality and affordability, an assumption it fails to prove.
The Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning proposal appears more targeted at encouraging affordable housing. It makes great sense to require of property owners who are being given a zoning bonus – either on a neighborhood-wide basis, or on a site-specific one – that they, in turn, make some of the housing affordable on a permanent basis. As we see it, when property is rezoned, the value of the property increases; the owner receives the gift of that increased value, and owes something back to the community in exchange.
The MIH proposal asks enough of developers in terms of affordable housing. In a neighborhood like ours, developers will be able to take affordability “credit” for building what they would already build for the local market. In lower-income neighborhoods along Jerome Avenue, which is currently being rezoned, very few of the “affordable” apartments that will be required by MIH will be actually affordable to the current residents of the neighborhood, where the median income is $24,000. We think it might be preferable to negotiate affordability criteria as part of each rezoning decision.
In addition, we think this rezoning effort must pay more attention to other community needs. If we increase the density of housing, what are we doing to ensure that sufficient open space and greenness exists? Are we adequately planning for expanded sewer needs? Are we requiring developers to divert stormwater from the sewer system? Can we ask of developers a contribution to basic infrastructure needs – street repair, parks, etc?
FIPNA loves the economic diversity of our neighborhood and wants to preserve it. We are the home of historic affordable housing from the Amalgamated Cooperatives to the first Mitchell Lama coop to NYCHA’s Fort Independence Houses more. We welcome a plan that will create truly affordable housing for low and moderate income New Yorkers. The reality is that this plan will provide very little housing for truly low income people, which is desperately needed in the city.
As tempting as it may be to pass a broad-brush package of zoning changes to create more affordable housing, we think the ZQA and the MIH will together produce far too many unintended negative effects on the varied communities of New York City, and we cannot support them in their current state.
We ask Community Board 8 and the Borough President to vote no.
]]>http://www.fipna.org/2015/11/08/fipna-statement-on-the-mayors-zoning-proposals/feed/0http://www.fipna.org/2015/11/08/fipna-statement-on-the-mayors-zoning-proposals/Want to know more about the City’s new zoning proposals?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/fipna/feed/~3/fKIFOxLWpOw/
http://www.fipna.org/2015/10/11/want-to-know-more-about-the-citys-new-zoning-proposals/#respondMon, 12 Oct 2015 01:47:21 +0000http://www.fipna.org/?p=2139The city is proposing some major changes to zoning requirements, and Community Board 8 is holding hearings on those changes this month. At this link, you can find out all the details about what the City is proposing. Thanks to ANHD for putting together the info. (Again, corrected link: http://www.anhd.org/?p=7225)

Community Board 8 will hold a hearing on the Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning amendment on Wednesday, October 14, at 7:30 p.m. at In-Tech Academy. Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning would require, where the City allows rezoning to happen, 20-30% of the apartments to be affordable (of course, what’s key is affordable TO WHOM — The MIZ proposal is focused on creating housing affordable to people earning $45,000 and up, and in some cases may give developers “credit” for building housing for folks at significantly higher incomes than that. For details, see the link) THIS PROPOSAL DOES NOT AFFECT EVERY DEVELOPMENT, BUT ONLY SITES THAT WILL BE REZONED.

The hearing on the ZQA, which would make changes to the allowable height and shape requirements, and would exempt some developers in some areas from parking requirements, will be on Wednesday, October 28, at 7:30 in a place to be announced later. THIS PROPOSAL IS MORE COMPLICATED, INVOLVES MANY CHaNGES IN WHAT CAN BE BUILT, and will affect many neighborhoods, without a change in zoning.

How does large rain storms impact your property? This weekend’s rains promise a great opportunity to focus on these impacts.

The survey is a series of questions to help you tell us what, where, when, etc. of runoff in the neighborhoods. We are exploring the impacts of storm water in our local communities: our basements, yards, and streets in order to quantify the need for Green Infrastructure and appropriate storm water best management practices.

The next step is to do a test run for the survey — but it will be more of a rehearsal as we will keep your data for the final report. The projected rainfall is just to juicy to neglect. If you would help us on this test run, we promise to share the report to the DEP.

Here is the link to do the survey online: http://goo.gl/forms/97KvOrtYCc​ ​

For those who are not online or prefer a hard copy to fill in, see the attached. Also, if you want to, pass the hard copy along to someone who is not online, but has flooding problems.

Thank you so much for your help. Please respond as soon as you can.

Karen Argenti

]]>http://www.fipna.org/2015/10/02/identify-stormwater-runoff-problems/feed/0http://www.fipna.org/2015/10/02/identify-stormwater-runoff-problems/Walk around the Reservoir Postponedhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/fipna/feed/~3/VuWasTHScIg/
http://www.fipna.org/2015/10/01/walk-around-the-reservoir-postponed/#respondThu, 01 Oct 2015 10:00:56 +0000http://www.fipna.org/?p=2133This weekend’s event has been postponed due to inclement weather. The DEP just issued the following press release:

GUIDED TOURS AND LIMITED ACCESS RECREATION AT JEROME PARK RESERVOIR POSTPONED DUE TO THE THREAT OF INCLEMENT WEATHER

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today announced that due to the potential for inclement weather this weekend, the special guided tours and limited access recreation planned at Jerome Park Reservoir have been postponed until the weekend of November 14th and 15th. As was originally planned, there will be two ticketed tours on each day, followed by a non-ticketed opportunity for the public to walk or jog around the 2-mile perimeter of the Reservoir. Entry will be through a Gate House located on the west side of Goulden Avenue, just south of 205th Street and phones, bags and cameras will not be permitted on the Reservoir grounds. There will be an opportunity to check phones, but visitors should not bring bags or cameras. All individuals who had registered for the tours scheduled for October 3rd and 4th will be contacted by DEP and given the first opportunity for tickets to the November 14th and 15th tours. To the extent any tickets remain after that, DEP will make them available on a first-come, first-served basis. More information will be made available about any remaining tickets on the DEP website and Facebook page.

]]>http://www.fipna.org/2015/10/01/walk-around-the-reservoir-postponed/feed/0http://www.fipna.org/2015/10/01/walk-around-the-reservoir-postponed/May 2015 NYT article on Croton filtration planthttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/fipna/feed/~3/JlRLYpFuWmU/
http://www.fipna.org/2015/09/17/may-2015-nyt-article-on-croton-filtration-plant/#respondThu, 17 Sep 2015 14:02:56 +0000http://www.fipna.org/?p=2130In this article, the Times reminds us that the plant, as we predicted, ended up costing more than 3 times what the DEP said it would cost. The Times says of those of us who opposed it, “They saw themselves as being deprived of acres of parkland.” This seems an odd turn of phrase; it is a simple fact that many acres of parkland are inaccessible to us because of this plant.

In case you missed this in May, here it is. And don’t forget: on October 3 and 4, we’ll get a chance to tour inside the fence around the Jerome Park Reservoir. Mark your calendar!